Bishop’s council

Summary

A governing body comprising a bishop and his counselors.1 The bishop’s council was charged with overseeing the temporal affairs of the church, administering goods under the law of consecration, and assisting the poor.2 The bishop’s council had authority to hold disciplinary hearings for church members; at such times it could be referred to as a bishop’s court.3 Rulings made by ad hoc councils outside of Zion or its stakes could be appealed to the bishop’s council in Kirtland.4 The bishop’s council also had authority to try the president of the church.5 An 1838 revelation stipulated that charges against members of the First Presidency of the church would be sustained only when the bishop’s council in Zion and a majority of such councils in its stakes, or a majority of the “voice of the whole body of the Church in Zion” and its stakes, concurred.6 In 1838, the bishop’s council was appointed to the committee for the disposal of tithing funds.7